Salmon with Artichoke Hearts, Tomatoes and Capers in a White-Wine Butter Sauce

It’s always sad when a great restaurant goes downhill. Some may disagree, but Teller’s (which used to be one of my favorite restaurants in Lawrence, KS) is not as good as it used to be. The décor in the restaurant is unique: it’s built inside an old bank, with some of the old iron bank teller window grates used as decoration, quarters inlaid in the tile floor here and there, and the bathrooms in the old bank vaults with the original vault doors still in place. The food used to be amazing, but it seems like once they took the “Teller’s Mushrooms” (the iconic dish of sausage (or vegetarian) stuffed mushroom caps swimming in a white-wine gruyere cheese sauce, served with little toasts) off the menu, everything else seemed to fail as well. I haven’t had a pleasing dinner there since that disastrous menu change.

One thing Teller’s was always known for though, was it’s seafood. I remember one of my visits I ordered the red snapper, which I’d never had before, and it came with the most amazing sauce. I’ve created my own version of what I had that night at Teller’s, and to me it tastes just as good. Feel free to make this with any sort of fish, however I might caution that it would be a more successful dish if you use a moderately firm-fleshed saltwater fish instead of a soft, flakey freshwater variety. I’d suggest salmon, red snapper, mahi mahi, swordfish, maybe even a nice cod or Chilean sea bass.

*bonus suggestion: avoid “steak” cuts, or cross-sections of fish. They’re full of bones and a pain in the neck to cook. Go with a fillet, and try to get one that’s an even thickness all the way across so it cooks evenly.

**bonus bonus suggestion: I’ve yet to try this, but I bet this sauce would be fantastic to steam some mussels in.

Salmon with Artichoke Hearts, Tomatoes and Capers in a White-Wine Butter Sauce

2-4 fillets of salmon (depending how many you are serving)
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp olive oil
1-2 Tbsp butter
1 clove garlic, minced
2 large canned artichoke hearts (not the pickled ones), squeezed of excess liquid and chopped
1 large or 2 small Roma tomatoes, seeds removed, chopped
1 Tbsp. small capers, drained
juice of 1/3 a lemon
1 c. dry white wine

Heat a skillet over medium high heat. Rinse your fish fillets, pat dry with a paper towel, and season with salt and pepper. Add 1 Tbsp. of olive oil when the skillet is hot. Once you see the very first wisp of smoke rise from the pan, place your fish into the pan presentation-side (whatever side you want to be the top of your fish fillet) down into the pan. Cooking fish is a tricky business. I can tell you it probably won’t take more than 2 minutes per side, but it may be less. The easiest way to tell is to watch the color of the fish’s flesh on the sides of the fillet. When you see the color change from darker to a lighter pink and start to look opaque 1/3 of the way through the fillet, flip your fish. If your two fillets are different thicknesses, you may have to flip them at different times, so just watch for it. After flipping watch the side of the fillet again. When the color change reaches the 1/3 of the way through the fillet mark on the 2nd side, remove the fillet and place it on a plate, presentation side up. Remove the pan from heat for a couple minutes to allow to cool a bit, and reduce the heat to medium. Place the pan back on the heat, and without cleaning it out, add in 1tsp of olive oil and 1Tbsp. butter. (If your butter instantly begins to brown your pan is still too hot, you’ll have to dump it out, wipe it out with paper towels, and start over. Try to avoid this, as wiping out your pan will remove a lot of the flavor for the sauce) Add in the clove of minced garlic and sauté for about 1 minute. Add the chopped artichoke hearts, chopped roma tomato, and capers, and sauté for another minute. Pour in the white wine, squeeze in the lemon juice, and add 1 more Tbsp. of butter, gently whisking in with a fork until it emulsifies (mixes) into the sauce. Simmer until you have the amount of sauce you want for your fish. If you seem to have less than you want, feel free to glug in a bit more wine. Place the fish fillets back into the pan and nestle them down into the sauce. Remove from heat and serve.

I serve the fish topped with the veggie mixture and pour the sauce over the whole thing. I wouldn’t suggest serving this with rice as the flavors in my opinion are decidedly more Italian than Asian, but perhaps a nice side of pasta dressed with garlic, olive oil and parmesan would go well. I served it with some nice green veggies and a chunk of crusty bread for sopping up the remaining sauce.